The Superhero genre has become increasingly popular in all walks of life: in film, television, video game, and board games. It has been hugely successful outside of its original medium of comics. The imagination and ingenuity of comic book writers is what has won over many hearts. Superheroes have many different origins – advanced technology like Tony Stark, or a radioactive spider, like Spiderman. It is their uniqueness that makes them interesting. We have already looked at Marvel Board Games in another article, so we will exclude these from this list. It is time to see if Superhero Board Games are as exceptional as their comic book counterparts.
Table of Contents
- Sentinels of the Multiverse
- Batman: Gotham City Chronicles
- Hellboy: The Board Game
- Heroes Wanted
- Potato Man
- Superhero Board Games: Sky High or Wet Spandex?
Sentinels of the Multiverse
In quite the fitting superhero fashion, Sentinels of the Multiverse is about you saving the world in a cooperative, team-based format. Each player chooses one of ten heroes to face off against a selection of villains in an array of different environments.
Players use fixed decks to battle a villain and environment deck. Turns start with the villain, players will take the top card off the top of the villain deck and play it on the field. Players then draw a card and are able to play it, each with superhero related powers. Each player then takes their turn. The round ends on the turn of the environment deck which players must – in a similar way to the villain deck – play the top card. Essentially, players are actively drawing and deciding cards, the villain and environment deck are “playing themselves” by always playing the top card.
Each villain has its individual strengths and some have differing winning conditions. Players win by getting the villain’s health to 0, the villain wins by defeating the heroes or fulfilling their victory condition.
Batman: Gotham City Chronicles
Batman: Gotham City Chronicles throws us into the caped crusader’s world. Batman is, of course, one of the most iconic DC superheroes and loved by millions around the globe. The game sees you pit heroes of the series, like Night wing, Batman and Cat woman, against its most recognisable villains.
The game deviates from other games on this list as one player is actually playing the villain and commands an army of henchmen and evil doers. The villain must complete scenario tasks to win. For example, in the scenario To Sink a City, Bane must arm bombs to try and destroy city hall.
There are two different modes in the game. First, which we have just described and where the majority of play will be, is the adventure mode. Villains have various scenarios to achieve and heroes must stop them. Second, the designers have included a versus mode which is a one vs one experience. Each player is able to draft their own team of tiles and it is down to the best player to win.
Hellboy: The Board Game
Hellboy is one of the biggest heroes outside of DC or Marvel. He was incredibly popular in the early 2000s with the films Hellboy (who would have guessed it?) and Hellboy II. This game coincides with the somewhat underwhelming reboot of the movie franchise in 2019.
Again, this game is all about team work. There is no “I” in team. Players take control of one of the Bereau for Paranormal Research and Defence members, such as Hell Boy or Abe Sapien, and will tackle the dungeon like board to fight foes and defeat powerful bosses.
Gameplay is done in a typical dice based format with players rolling to hit, wound, and defeat enemies on varying throws depending on their character’s skill level. The game is most suited to players who are already fans of the franchise. While anyone can enjoy it, this game especially resonates a bit more if you have a genuine intrest in Dark Horse Comics.
Heroes Wanted
Heroes Wanted is a board game that starts at a different stage in a Superhero’s life. Your superhero to be is created using two hero cards; so there is a bit of variety in each play through of the game. You might become the Crimson computer or the Turbo Viking. It is really a complete and random mish-mash of possibilities and is the game’s best mechanic.
The aim is to gain as much fame as possible so that you will finally be inducted into the official crime fighting league of Zeta city. Fame can be gained in a number of ways. From knocking out henchmen, completing headlines, to most importantly, defeating the villain who is equally randomised and has different aims depending on the scenario.
Gameplay is carried out though a deck of cards which let you use superpowers, deal damage and save the day. The developers also added a “quirk” feature to add some humour to the game. For example, the Poorly Choreographed Victory Dance makes you do a dance in front of everyone else playing before you complete a headline.
Potato Man
We could not resist putting Potato Man on the list, the artwork, the idea, it was just too good to pass up. It is a trick taking game, with a classic most points wins format with a bit of a twist,. True to theme, points are given to players in the form of sacks of potatoes.
A player begins by placing any coloured suit they want. Each other player must then play a different coloured suit. The highest card played wins the trick. When you win a trick, you also win the corresponding coloured victory card/sack of potatoes. It is a pretty straightforward concept.
However, this is not the whole game as the designers have added in a little flair. The red suit contains the highest cards, some of which have the “Evil Spud” character on it – 16, 17 and 18. Normally, these cards would dominate rounds, but, if the Potato Man cards is played – 1, 2, or 3 – that player wins the trick automatically. It’s the ultimate underdog battle and all round just silly fun.
Superhero Board Games: Sky High or Wet Spandex?
Superhero Board Games follow some key themes the most important being teamwork. There is a clear bias towards cooperative style games in the genre. A lot of the time the games are supported by household names, like Batman or Hellboy, because it is easy to market to fans. However, some games are not afraid to mix it up. Potato man is a gem, not only because of its silliness, but the Evil Spud mechanic really does the underdog theme of superheroes justice. No matter how powerful the villain is they can be thwarted by the unlikeliest of heroes.
